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When I’d blurted out my intention to accompany Emory to the rally, it wasnotfor the job. Despite the bravado she’d tried to put on, I saw the fear in her eyes. No way in hell was I going to allow her to be anywhere near that bastard by herself.
“Let’s get started,” Gabe said as I took a seat next to Alec at the table.
Duncan, who’d been leaning against the side wall, came forward. He handed each of us a folder while he began his brief.
“The FBI became suspicious of Senator Daubson about two years ago after he returned from a trip to Europe. Intel showed he, along with his wife, son, and several members of his staff, had dinner with a lesser member of the Haqqani Network.”
“Fuck,” my brothers and I grumbled in unison.
The Haqqani Network, or HQN, was a group with ties to multiple terrorist organizations, most notably, the Taliban. Their main goal was to wreak havoc and expel foreign military presence from Afghanistan.
“Hold up,” Rico raised his hand. “By intel, you mean the CIA is involved as well?”
Duncan nodded.
“If you know this, why isn’t he behind bars?” Alec asked what we were all thinking.
“It’s not quite so simple,” he continued. “We have photos, which I’ve included in your packets, along with backgrounds of all the other players, including the other two Daubsons.”
Opening the folder, I flipped through the stack of papers, focusing on the pictures of Emory’s family. She resembled her mother the most, their features almost identical, except for the scowl on the older woman’s face which made her appear harsh and uncaring.
Her father and brother, Maxwell, were also almost carbon copies; both with dark hair and similar builds. Emory had yet to mention her brother to River, as far as I knew, which made me question why she would keep him a secret.
“Then there’s the fact that Daubson holds a seat on one of the U.S. Senate Armed Services subcommittees and could easily dismiss the meeting.”
“Which subcommittee?” Gabe’s voice turned hard.
“Emerging threats and capabilities.”
The temperature in the room dropped twenty degrees with Duncan’s declaration. Among other things, that particular subcommittee had jurisdiction over the Department of Defense, including special operations.
“So the FBI and CIA believe Senator Daubson is using his position in the committee to obtain, then sell, classified black-ops locations?” I voiced. “Am I understanding you correctly, Duncan?”
“Yes. You pretty much summed it up,” he replied.
We spent the rest of the morning creating a timeline to see if the senator’s various trips around the world coincided with any known attacks. By the time we’d finished with the last two years, it became obvious we’d need to go back even further. Every time Daubson traveled to Europe, within four months, there was a strike against a classified installation.
Yes, what we had was conjecture and speculation, but when you brought it all together, it was beyond coincidental. Thus far, the feds hadn’t found a money trail and without it, we were dead in the water. Which was why they’d come to us, or more accurately, why they’d come to Rico.
For years, he’d been their star hacker; the best of the best of the best. The FBI fucked up when they let him slip through their fingers. Rico was an all-around genius when it came to anything having to do with cyberspace. The feds might have dug deep into the senator’s finances, but Rico would go ten times deeper.
Several hours later, we had a rudimentary plan in place. If the opportunity presented itself during my attendance at the rally, I’d strategically place several listening devices in the senator’s home, specifically his office.
Once Duncan left, my gut screamed at me to abort the mission, or at the very least, talk to Emory. The idea of keeping her in the dark was abhorrent to me. Especially given the newness of our relationship, or the fake relationship she’d yet to understand was one-hundred-percent real.
“I don’t like this.” I stood from the chair and began pacing the room.
“Which part?” Alec probed.
“The part where I basically use Emory to get to her father.”
“Fratello.” Rico stepped in front of me, placing his hands on my shoulders. “She’ll understand why you couldn’t say anything.”
“Would River? Would Cate?” I cut my eyes to Gabe before returning them to my baby brother. “I wasn’t thinking straight when I agreed to this, but after what we learned here, how could I be willing to walk away when so many lives are at stake?”
“Holy shit. You love her.”
“I don’t love her, Alec. Not yet, at least.”
